MAB

They are still the same theme though, even if humans and aliens or team A and team B are split into different boxes. I think Agent Kallus has given a good summary of the issue with Space, it is an idea rather than reality and different people have different ideas what could be included. Especially different people in different generations. What pleased kids many decades ago won't necessarily be of interest now if it has not had continuity through those decades.

Just about every in-house action theme has sides now and has done for many years. When you consider themes like AC, GS, Atlantis, PQ, Ninjago, MK, NK, Chima, Hidden Side, MF, Pirates, Castle. Even the "real life" City has a higher than reality cops vs robbers. I'd be really surprised if LEGO did an action based theme that doesn't have some sort of conflict going on. Of course, City did have sub themes like Arctic which was more science and exploration, and that is where they have put the semi-realistic (without aliens) Space Exploration, in Space Port. I think kids have moved on compared to 40 years ago, and that if/when they do fantasy based Space again, they would have aliens in it leaving the non-alien based Space sets in City.

Yes, but then new space themes haven't happened so any discussion of them is irrelevant. The point was, if they brought out a theme with classic space characters, but had aliens in it and maybe different coloured windshields, would it (i) be well received and (ii) be treated as a continuation of classic space. And would it really matter if the aliens had standard heads or moulded heads?

The point was, what happens if LEGO decides aliens are in Space, where the astronauts all wear classic uniforms.

Yes, I've got all the comics and a few of the downloads. You can win multiple prizes each week but just one entry into the draw. The downloads really aren't work it and the comics are a bit rubbish. Although you can customise them, they aren't really very flexible.

Sell it to someone who likes building centaurs.

So what would happen if the space sets of the 80s had continued and to make them more interesting after such a long run, LEGO introduced a story arc in that the original minifigures discover a planet with aliens and they have moulded heads? That would mean Space is no longer space.

One of my favourites is the dodgy shoulder joint in this set.

The shiny surface looks like a waterslide or possibly clear vinyl decal.

The reddish brown tiles with gold snakes look printed to me.

There have been some castle like builds in unlicensed sets, such as I Monster Fighters. But it does really depend how you define Castle. Some of the temple type builds from Ninjago are great, but are they really Castle? I don't feel there is as much "hidden" Castle compared to Space in the kids' themes of Ninjago, Monkie Kid, City, etc but then Castle has got some good (large and adult aimed) sets recently in ICONS and IDEAS. I don't find HP much use for Castle either, both in design and parts, mainly due to too much of the wrong colours for me and also the figures are repeated too often and worth very little to sell on. Star wars, on the other hand and depending on the set, can have decent parts selection for Castle MOCs and the figures tend to be more valuable to sell on and so make the parts cheaper compared to HP.

I wouldn't go for the pyramid if you enjoy playing. The others are too different in size and price, style and subject, and it is really down to personal preference.

I imagine it can be extended quite easily. It looks simple to double the length of the hall and change the height of the tower things. If you already have a stock of log bricks, other ramshackle building could easily fill in gaps and randomise the look. In a way that is the downside for me. The builds already look a bit simple. The big hall is fine but the smaller buildings look rather basic, with what appears to be rather simple rockwork. Without the hall, it is a bit reminiscent of The Battle of Five Armies. I have enough basic parts so I probably won't be buying the set, but will go for the printed tiles, ravens and maybe figure parts on PAB instead. It really depends what the parts inventory looks like. Given the apparent small size but high part count, I can imagine there will be many smaller parts.

I think there is, in the area by the forge there seems to be at least one.

Yes, I thought it might be that. I edited my post to include that probably at the same time you were responding to it.

Combined with the stated price giving a low price per part, I guess there will be a lot of smaller parts in it.

I can't say I've had a problem with the windshields area. Are you picking it up by the blue bit, or from underneath? Or is it when you are opening and closing the windshields? I can understand it not being possible to play with it for a child as it is probably too big and heavy, just like most UCS SW sets and some other older teen / adult sets. Personally, I find the Tumbler (76023) is one of the worst for bits falling off when played with, not surprising really given how many odd ways the plates are connected and angled to give it the unique shape. I cannot really see how it fails on the second point though, being able to use imagination and building other things with it. I haven't taken mine apart but it would be a pretty good parts pack, any failure here is surely on the user and not the set.

Is it known if they will reuse the torsos from the Creator set? I'm not really interested in the set. The only thing that might be interesting for me are the decorated parts and minifigure parts and probably most of all if they do the 'parrot' in black.

It is interesting what others do and do not like about this set (referring to all posts, not just this one). I think Mike Psiaki did a brilliant job of taking an old set that people may have had as a kid and turned it into something they would expect now. To me, it just feels more finished than the original. The way the neat trim has been added to the edges through tiles, the way the blue middle section is now sleek and angled as essentially a single slope, rather than the slope - flat - slope necessary decades ago. The cockpits are still comically large and bulky compared to the wings and the overall shape is similar. I find (as an adult) that I can pick it up and fly it around, but doing it in a more adult way in the sense that I understand it will fall apart if I grab it by the end of the wing. It is like picking up any (primarily) display object, you understand it needs to be held roughly in the middle under the centre of mass. That is something that 8 year olds might not have thought about with the original. To me, it doesn't matter if bits fall off if you don't pick it up carefully, as if I pick it up, I pick it up carefully. I don't think this is a set for kids at all or really designed to be played with like a toy by a kid. An older teen maybe, but not for 8-12 year olds. But then I don't think kids of today would find the original very interesting either. If they had recreated it at the same original size and similar design, I think most adults that have bought the bigger version would find it a little lame now, and most kids would not be interested. In the mind of a kid, compare that to some of the much more interesting shapes, colours, play features and designs for space ships (or even underwater craft that are played with in a similar way) from the LEGO movies, Ninjago, Monkie Kid, etc. I saw the new Spacebus from Dreamzzz in store the other day, and the small sample of younger kids looking at it seemed to think it was great. Essentially a space shuttle design, with a bit of cartoony wackiness with the American style school bus in the middle. Change the colours and a few decorative parts, and it would equally well fit into Ninjago or Monkie Kid. There are so many of these swooshable ships these days, so much choice for kids, and they all fit into whatever theme they like.

Remember to some people Space is not Space unless it is blue and grey with coloured minifigures with matching airtanks and helmets. Children play with similar style builds in similar ways, it doesn't matter what the badge on the box says or which section of the website it is from. In many cases, the audience for a swooshable set will be the same, whether the storyline behind the theme is based on a fictional place on earth or a fictional place elsewhere. It really doesn't matter what badge is on the box, it is whether they compete for the same audience and shelf space.

Yes, there are many recent space but not Space sets done in Ninjago. I was just concentrating on those that appeared soon after the last of what are usually considered Space theme sets disappeared.

Yet Lucasfilm were apparently happy to do business all this time, including these years - 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 - despite LEGO doing in-house fantasy space as complete themes, along with other fantasy and realistic space sets in many other years even though all of that was competing with SW LEGO merchandise. Similarly, Castle was on the shelves at the same time as Harry Potter and LOTR. Again the last proper theme sets were 2013 (with a couple of battle packs that went into 2014). Is it coincidence that both Castle and Space disappear at about the same time after 2013? Does Castle disappear because of Star Wars too as there was no other license stopping it? Harry Potter didn't get the reboot until much later (2018). Or might it be that they had decided to go down the route of 2/3 year themes (Ninjago, Chima, Nexo) and were then hit with the huge success of Ninjago over 2011-2012 and realised that making Ninjago evergreen was going to continue those sales year on year. Look at some of the 2014/2015 Ninjago sets from the time of the reboot. There are a number of ships and vehicles that could easily pass as space. To me, they overlap with "generic space theme" more than they overlap with Star Wars, and more than Star Wars overlaps with "generic space theme". Kids wanting swooshable fantasy play like they would get from Galaxy Squad, or Alien Conquest or Space Police could have the same play with these sets, just with different enemies and a core of by this time well-loved in-house characters. And at the same time, there are architectural sets (Asian style rather than European) and dragons, overlapping with the traditional play areas that Castle would have taken before. And kids can land their swooshable ship next to the Temple or Destiny's Bounty and play seamlessly with both as they are all from the same theme. And then the movies hit, and the classic themes start to become more nostalgia based references for adults (like Benny's spaceship) rather than kids' playsets. Now the kids have Ninjago with its wide range of set styles and sizes, the adults including all those newly drawn into the hobby have the classic themes they remember as kids done as large expensive sets only and we are in the current post-LEGO Movies era.

To me, that type of thing is better than an add on of something missing from the set. The problem with a GWP of something purposely removed from the set and added back on through a GWP is if you miss the GWP promotion period or if you want to buy from another retailer, then you are forever missing part of a big model. Whereas something tangentially related is a nice extra little build that is different to the main large set but it doesn't matter if you don't get it.

And what is probably worse for this thread is that they can do anything and everything that any new theme could do without the need for advertising it to kids to convince them to buy into it. So if those little ninjas want to fight with or side with pirates, or go on an adventure with Roman or Egyptian architecture and characters, they just need to write the story arc and incorporate that type of set into the theme. It really is a catch-all type of theme.

They are quite different scenarios though. The HP GWP is rumoured to be for any HP sets over the threshold and not tied to one specific set. Whereas LOTR has just one big set. If something attaches to the big set and is only available by buying the big set, they might as well include it with the big set.